Blog

As public relations professionals, we know that storytelling is a powerful way to connect with our audiences. Brand journalism is, in essence, a type of storytelling with the goal of gaining your audience's trust by publishing content that is credible and informative. At its most basic, a corporate blog is a form of brand journalism. Instead of writing a press release, a company might write a blog post and share the content on its social channels. However, brand journalism goes beyond blogging about company news. But before you make your foray into brand journalism, you need a plan.

Step 1: Define your goals. Why do you want to begin creating content? Organizations are creating content to build brand awareness, educate the media on industry topics,... read more

Denver is brimming with public relations firms vying for your business. It's great for organizations looking to outsource their PR, but it can be overwhelming when it comes to choosing the right agency. Even though we always welcome new prospects, we want to be sure we can deliver results before we accept a contract. We want to be sure that Pushkin PR is the right fit. These are some of the things we tell would-be clients to consider before hiring us—or any—PR firm. Areas of Expertise Not all public relations agencies are created equal. Generally, firms have a handful of specialties—industries or activities with which they have the most experience. It's important to ask any PR firm you are considering if they have experience in your... read more

As of the first quarter of this year, Facebook had 1.44 billion monthly active users—more people than live in China. So it makes sense that it is the site most organizations prioritize when developing a social media strategy. It’s not a bad approach considering you’ll certainly find some portion of your target audience there. According to the Pew Research Center, the 74 percent of online adults using social media are divvied up like this, with 52 percent using two or more sites. 71% use Facebook 23% use Twitter 26% use Instagram 28% use Pinterest 28% use LinkedIn

Those five social channels are the major players and the ones we always consider. But depending on your product or service and target audience, there are a... read more

Think about the brands you admire. Those brands worked hard to earn your respect. But as hard as they are to build up, even strong reputations can be torn down in the blink of an eye. That’s why reputation management requires constant vigilance and attention. For the past couple weeks, we've been spending a lot of our time in Cheyenne, Wyoming, at Cheyenne Frontier Days, an iconic Western brand built over 119 years with an approach we like to call Cowboy PR. That means it’s founded on trust and authentic communication. The people who run Cheyenne are straight shooters. They believe in getting directly to the heart of the matter and not wasting your time with a lot of bull. When we began working with... read more

As public relations professionals, we wear a lot of hats. We run branding sessions and work our contacts to get media placements that include our clients’ key messages. We hold trainings on topics from social media management to interviewing skills. We create crisis communications plans and messaging platforms. But, first and foremost, we are communicators. No matter the project, our goal is always to help clients communicate more effectively. This is especially important for our healthcare clients who are tasked with delivering complex information to a variety of audiences.

According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, only 12 percent of U.S. adults have proficient health literacy. The Institute of Medicine defines health literacy as "the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain,... read more

For many organizations, the tendency is to be everything to everyone for fear of missing out on customers, opportunities or revenue. The result: a lack of a cohesive brand. Without a strong brand promise, potential customers, clients or donors won't know what your organization is about. Throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks may land you a few new prospects, some sales or donations. But it will not give you the staying power necessary to compete in this crowded, noisy marketplace. We use a specific process to help our clients determine their brand promise, so they can answer the three most important questions in public relations. What is your story? To whom do you want to tell it? What is the best way... read more

If you live in Colorado, or have flown Frontier through Denver International Airport lately, you're probably aware of the company’s troubles with a new passenger-management system after outsourcing 1,160 below-ramp and customer-service positions at DIA. A deluge of customer complaints against Frontier Airlines has the Better Business Bureau taking a closer look at the airline's rating. Founder of a Denver-based pubic relations firm and crisis communications expert, Jon Pushkin shares his take on the situation with Frontier Airlines. How well do you think Frontier is handling this situation from a public relations perspective? What grade would you give them?

JP: Frontier is facing a serious threat to its reputation that could result in long-term damage to the company’s brand and bottom line. Its response has... read more

Public Relations has been around since the early 20th century and continues to evolve and expand with technology and business practices. It now involves a variety of activities and comprises many areas of specialization. It can feel overwhelming, especially for smaller organizations and nonprofits with fewer resources. Veteran PR strategist and founder of Pushkin Public Relations, Jon Pushkin, shares some insight from over 20 years working in the field of public relations. It seems like there are a lot of definitions of Public Relations, and it covers such a broad range of activities. How do you sum it up for your clients?

JP: It’s true that a lot of people have a hard time explaining public relations in simple terms. As a profession, we... read more

Social marketing has become a bit of a buzzword over the past few years. But, behavior change initiatives are nothing new. History is packed with examples of people trying to influence others to take an action or change their behavior in a way that will benefit society, as well as them personally. Social marketing attempts to convince an audience a new behavior has more value than a current behavior. It combines the best elements of traditional approaches to social change with marketing techniques to generate discussion, promote information and think about an issue differently. However, the goal is not just to raise awareness or shift attitudes; it is to motivate people to change their behavior, a challenging task. As Nancy R. Lee and Philip Kotler... read more

When Jon Pushkin started Pushkin Public Relations 17 years ago, the Internet looked more like this than this Pushkin PR was pretty cutting edge for even having a website. Then we got busy growing the business, adding new team members and advising clients how to improve their brand identity, which often includes website redesigns.

Over a decade later, we decided PushkinPr.com needed a little TLC and an updated look. We used our years of experience helping clients through website redesign projects to prepare for this massive undertaking. If you feel like your website needs to be overhauled or just spruced up, here are some tips to keep the project running smoothly. Audit your current site. What content needs revision; what content needs to be scrapped;... read more